


Just Drive!

by lunapillie



Category: NCT (Band), WAYV
Genre: All of 127 are here, M/M, Mafia AU, Protesting, Renjun is Sicheng’s lil bro, To trust Yuta or not to trust Yuta, dreamies and other wayv boys are mentioned
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-25
Updated: 2019-10-25
Packaged: 2020-11-15 02:06:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20858444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunapillie/pseuds/lunapillie
Summary: This is all Xiaojun’s fault, if he didn’t convince Sicheng to come to this protest he wouldn’t have been chased by the police. He wouldn’t have been forced to have dinner with the group of the guy who’s motorcycle he jumped on. And he wouldn’t have been followed around by them because they don’t trust him.But yet here he is.





	Just Drive!

**Author's Note:**

> Requested by Anon
> 
> Based off of a dream they had and I did my best to bring it to life!
> 
> Also I’m clearly American and I don’t know how they deal with illegal protests in other countries so let’s just pretend it’s like this for the stories sake 💕

“Can you please come to the protest? I really don’t want to go alone and I promise I’ll only make us stay for an hour ** _max_ **.”

Sicheng furrowed his brows, “An hour is still a lot.”

“Ge please it’s for a good cause!” Xiaojun continued to beg, going as far as to cling onto the older man’s arm, “I’ll owe you one, anything as long as it’s not expensive because I’m broke. Struggling musician isn’t the best job.”

The sigh Sicheng was holding in could barely be contained, “What even is this protest about?”

“Air pollution dude, it’s important stuff!”

“Since when have you cared about _ air pollution _?” 

Xiaojun coughed as he adjusted his glasses, glancing off towards the side, “I-I’ve always cared about the environment! What are _ you _talking about?”

“Oh, so you’re going because of a crush,” Sicheng nodded wisely, “Well at least is for a good cause and you aren’t doing drugs or something.”

“I don’t have a crush!” The younger argued, hands coming up to shove his friend a bit. 

Suddenly Sicheng had an idea, there was an innocent look on his face but there was a hint of mischievousness hidden underneath the disguise. 

“If you don’t tell me, I won’t go.”

Xiaojun was glaring at Sicheng, “You hide such an evil person under than cute face and quiet personality Dong Sicheng. But you’ve got yourself a deal, only ‘cause I’m scared to be with both of them alone…”

“Woah woah woah!” There was no way to stop the look of surprise from appearing on him, “Both? As in more than one?!”

“This is why I didn’t want to tell you! You’re going to judge me and think I’m weird or whatever,” The younger frowned. 

The elder backtracked, trying to make them both feel more comfortable, “I’m not judging you, I just wasn’t expecting it.” 

There was some squabbling back and forth but soon enough Xiaojun was spilling the beans about his two crushes. One apparently named Kunhang but he went by Hendery while the other was named YangYang. 

“So they’ll be at this protest?” Sicheng inquired innocently. 

He had leaned in ever so slightly and has his hands clasped behind his back, trying to not look like he was scheming something. Though his friend could clearly see that something was being cooked up in his brain if the skeptical expression he was wearing has anything to say about it. 

“Yes…”

A small smile lit up on the older man’s face and he nodded, “Alright then I’ll go.”

“I almost want to say nevermind, just because I know you’re gonna lowkey get involved in my business,” Xiaojun huffed. 

Even though he sounded annoyed, there was a glint of amusement in his eyes and a grin on his lips so clearly he didn’t mind that much. 

“But I kinda want you to meet them and let me know what you think.”

“Well they must be good people at least if they care about the environment.”

“They _ are _good people! But they also are the biggest idiots I’ve ever met, but in a good way, y'know?” Xiaojun explained. 

Sicheng chuckled but nodded in understanding, “Okay so when is the protest?” 

“Oh well it’s today,” He paused to pull out his phone, “In thirty minutes.” 

The want to put his friend in a choke hold was great, but instead of doing that he scurried around the apartment he shared with his brother, getting ready and grabbing his things. 

Soon enough he was all ready to go and it only took around seven minutes, he had mastered the art of speedily getting ready due to his love for sleep, which meant he snoozed his alarm too many times. Which made him only have a small window of time to get dressed and out the door, it was stressful but came in handy for things like this. 

“Let’s go, you’re leading the way.”

  


It didn’t take long to walk to the protest, only ten minutes give or take a few, so there was still some time before the actual event started. A group of twenty or thirty people were gathered wearing shirts with phrases and many people holding various signs that Sicheng didn’t bother to read. The crowd that showed up was a lot more than anything he was expecting, honestly he thought there would be ten people max. Protesting pollution wasn’t a pastime he assumed many had, but apparently he didn’t know much after all. They were told to meet outside of some factory that was a major contributor to air pollution to this part of the city and that’s where they would be holding the protest, at least that’s what Xiaojun had told him anyway. 

While humanity was slowly killing the planet and that sucked, he mostly came because he wanted to meet the future boyfriends of one of his best friends. 

“Oh hey Dejun you made it!” Someone called, rushing towards them. 

“You let them call you Dejun?” Sicheng asked, lip twitching in amusement. 

“Shut up,” Xiaojun hissed, before turning to the two men that came up to him, “Hey guys! Of course I came, and I actually brought a friend. So, this is Sicheng-ge, Sicheng-ge this is Hendery and YangYang.” 

He pointed to the one with the shaggy black hair as Hendery which made the one with the light brown hair YangYang. 

“Hi, nice to meet you both.” 

“Yeah, same! I hope you don’t mind me asking but how do you know Dejun?” YangYang asked, clearly curious. 

Sicheng hummed and lightly patted Xiaojun on the shoulder, “We were neighbors for a few years before I moved out of my parents' place, I remember we only officially met because he was playing guitar loudly at 10 PM and I went over there with my mother to tell him to be quiet because my brother and I had school the next day.”

Hendery barked out a laugh, “I guess he’s always been annoying huh? I’m surprised you’d wanted to even be friends with him.” 

“Well he’s got his charms, I’m sure you both understand right?” Sicheng said, the hidden meaning making the rest chuckle awkwardly. 

A light flush was traveling across Xiaojun’s face, and he cleared his throat to disperse the odd air around them, “Anyway! We should join everyone else, I think we’re starting soon.” 

Hendery perked right back up, “Right! We made a sign for you Jun, but we didn’t know you were bringing anyone so we don’t have an extra but I’m sure someone else around here does!” 

“Oh no it’s fine I’ll just use my voice to shout stuff.”

Again, he was mostly here to watch and be moral support, he wasn’t trying to be as into it as most likely everyone else here was. Usually he was very non confrontational unless the situation called for it or he was trying to tease one of his friends. 

“Well if you’re sure, but if you want a sign don’t be afraid to ask around!” YangYang said cheerily. 

Soon enough there was a person standing on a box shouting out directions and the like, but honestly Sicheng wasn’t paying much attention. He just clung onto his small group and did whatever they did so he wouldn’t stick out. 

  


As expected, walking in circles for an hour wasn’t fun and at some point a sign was thrusted into Sicheng’s hand. He just held onto it because what else was he supposed to do?

“Hey,” he nudged Xiaojun, who was taking a water break, “we’ve been here a while, you said we could leave after an hour.”

Holding the bottle in the crook of his arm, Xiaojun reached into his pocket to check the time on his phone, “Damn I-” 

Before he could finish his sentence, there was a commotion at the other end of the group that swiftly took their attention off of each other. Though it quickly died down, so they shrugged it off. 

“That was weird, but yeah we can go, I’m honestly getting tired. Lemme just say bye to the boys,” he said the last part while winking and shooting some finger guns. 

“Okay. I’ll wait right here for you.”

Sicheng set his sign against the wall and proceeded to fiddle with his hands as he waited for the younger man to come back. 

“Attention everyone!” A voice shouted. 

The voice could be clearly heard, like it was coming out of a megaphone or something. 

“This is an illegal gathering! Disperse immediately!” 

This jolted the Chinese man out of his exhausted state and into one of confusion. This protest didn’t get approved to happen or however you had to do it? 

“Everyone stay where you are! Don’t let them scare you into giving up on our cause, we aren’t going to get a second Earth if we destroy this one!” The leader of the protest shouted back and got cheers in response. 

Someone else was quick to chime in, “Yeah! These pigs are just trying to distract us from what really matters!”

More commotion was heard and Sicheng scanned them area for a way out, whatever was going on he wanted no part of it. He would just text Xiaojun to meet him somewhere else, he was probably thinking the same thing about this situation. 

“Disperse now!” Another shout from what he assumed was a police officer, “We don’t care what you want, if you don’t remove yourselves we’ll be forced to take action.”

Take action? What does that entail exactly? 

The crowd that was too thick to see into started jostling each other, and the complaints were loud enough that he could hear them from the few feet away he was standing. Suddenly there was shouting, words getting louder and louder. And then a scream and then people were running. All of a sudden it was a confusing mess of bodies, and it felt like there were tons more people than when he had initially gotten here. 

One second everything was fine and the next, destruction. 

Frozen was pretty much how he felt, that is until there was a police officer coming towards him. He’s never had any negative experiences with cops before, but having one near him wasn’t a pleasant feeling. In fact, it sent him into a little bit of a panic and had him speed walking towards the nearest clearing. 

As he was trying to get away from the throngs of people, there was a face and head that looked very much like Xiaojun and he made it a point to go in that direction to try and scoop his friend up. Thus bringing him right back into the mess he just got out of two second prior. Unfortunately whoever it was vanished as soon as they showed up, making the risk all for nothing. 

Sicheng had to face it, he lost Xiaojun in the crowd of protestors during the chaos and there wasn’t much else he could do, which caused a flicker of fear in him. If the younger man got picked up by the cops or if something happened to him...he shouldn’t even bother thinking about it. He’ll just have to call him once he’s safe to see if he got away. 

Plus as much as he’d like to turn back, he was no help if he was also getting arrested. Well, this was probably just a scare tactic by authorities to get them to abandon their cause. But if the gathering was illegal then...

There was the distinct sound of feet slapping against the pavement that definitely weren’t his own that had him speed up into a full on run. Chances were it was someone like himself that was running away from trouble, but he couldn't be sure, and looking would just make him lock up again. 

Before he could continue on that train of thought, he took a hard left to try and throw off whoever was behind him. It caused him to end up in front of a library where he saw a guy leaning up against his motorcycle and just typing away on his phone. At just a glance, all he noticed was his longish brown hair and dark colored jacket he was wearing. Honestly it was a weird place to see someone like that, but how could he really judge? He was a seemingly nice looking guy and yet here he was potentially creating a criminal record that would ruin his future. 

Suddenly, just as he was about to completely disregard the random motorcycleist, a semi stupid idea popped in his brain. Against all better judgment, he ignored any warning signs and changed his path to head towards the guy. 

“H-hey!” He called, glad that it didn’t take long to reach the man with his longer legs, “I know this looks really bad but I need you to give me a ride!” Sicheng continued in a high pitched, panicked voice. 

The look of shock and confusion on the man’s face would’ve been hilarious in any other situation besides this one, but right now he was terrified. 

“Wait what-” 

That’s when Sicheng decided to be even more idiotic and just hop onto the back of the guys bike. 

“Can you just...**fucking** drive!?”

This sudden aggression (out of desperation) kicked the man into gear and he hopped onto the bike as well, quick shoving the keys into the ignition and starting the thing. It didn’t take long for them to peel away, and as Sicheng clung tightly onto the _ stranger’s _ waist _ , _he managed to look back and see the shape of an out of breath cop speaking into a walkie talkie. 

“So, where are you headed?”

The Chinese man jumped in surprise, not really expecting to be talked to. Now that things were calming down a bit, he could feel his shier self come back. 

“Um, I’m not really sure. I don’t want to go back to my place because I’m not sure if they’ll be sending someone after us or-” He paused as a moment of realization hit him, “Shit! I’m really sorry I got you involved in this mess, I-” 

Vibrations of the man in front of him laughing passed through him and Sicheng’s face set into a grimace wondering what was so damn funny. 

“Listen, I get myself into a lot of trouble normally so honestly don’t worry about it,” He briefly looked back but went back to watching the road right away, “Also...I know a place I can take you if you want. The police won’t be able to find you there.” 

“No offense but that sounds like you’re going to murder me…”

Another bark of laughter, “I wouldn’t do that, unless you decide to cross me!” The way he made that threatening sentence sound so lighthearted was a bit scary. 

Was Sicheng’s whole day just going to be mistake after mistake? First having to stand in the hot sun for ages, then getting chased, and now he was going to get killed. And he couldn’t do much seeing as they were moving incredibly fast on this motorcycle and trying to fight this guy right now would just lead to an accident that they would both die in most likely. 

Guess all he could do was make the best out of a bad situation, “Maybe you could tell me your name first?” 

“I’m Yuta! And you mystery boy?”

Should he actually tell him his real name? Did this guy even give him _ his _real name? 

“You’re taking an awful long time to answer, I sincerely hope you aren’t thinking about lying to me,” Yuta said cheerfully, but this time there was an edge to it that sent a shiver down Sicheng’s spine. Guess making a fake name was out of the question, he would end up stuttering and this guy would know he wasn’t telling the truth. 

“I- I wasn’t thinking that! I’m Sicheng.”

“Cute! So Sicheng, do you want to come with me or not?” 

“Uhh,” he did not want this guy knowing where he lived but he still wasn’t sure if he wanted to go with him. But he didn’t have much of a choice, “Fine I’ll go, but promise me that I’ll be safe.”

It occurred to him as soon as he said it that he could’ve just had this guy drop him off at a random place like a McDonalds or a convenience store. Best of both worlds, Yuta wouldn’t know where he lived and he wouldn’t have to go with him. Now it was really too late. 

“Of course you’ll be safe, I wouldn’t take you there if you were going to be in a lot of danger!”

That sounded like it implied there was going to be a little bit of danger. 

“Please just promise.” 

“I promise,” Yuta said, voice clearly very serious. 

Great now he was headed to somewhere he didn’t know, but at least he had an empty promise of protection!

//

“Okay so I get how sketchy what I’m about to ask is but I’m going to need you to close your eyes.”

Even though the sentence was posed as a request, it was very clearly a demand which made Sicheng’s heart clench with worry. He didn’t speak, just nodded and did as he was told, mentally saying goodbye to his friends and family just in case. 

The rest of the ride was quiet and they got to wherever their destination was in another five minutes. At least that’s what it felt like, speaking of feeling, without sight the road felt much bumpier and he couldn’t help but tighten his grip on Yuta’s waist. Something that made him feel a bit awkward but again his choices were limited. 

“Alright we’re here, you can open your eyes and hop off,” Yuta instructed. 

Once his eyes were open, he noticed they were parked in front of a tall office building, which had him very confused. This didn’t look like a place a person would get murdered in, especially since there were people walking in and out. Though this also didn’t look like a place someone like Yuta would be hanging around. 

“Do you like...work here?” Sicheng asked awkwardly. 

Yuta chuckled at the other man’s reaction and nodded, “Oh yeah, me and my friends own the building actually.” 

They _ own _the building? This place looks like it’d cost a fortune just to rent out one office space let alone owning the whole ass building. Sicheng didn’t want to be judging but who the hell was Yuta to be able to afford a place like this?

“You- but-“ 

Even though Sicheng didn’t say what he was thinking, they both knew what he was trying to say. 

“Okay look, I know what I look like but you caught me on my day off!” Yuta huffed as he led the way into the building. 

On the inside, everything continued to look normal. Just people going about their day in the lobby of this fancy place. 

Yuta lightly grabbed him by the arm and led him towards the left, “This way, we’re taking the elevator.” 

There was a crowd of people waiting to get on the elevator, and Sicheng was fully prepared to wait. He’s really had enough of groups of people today, so he was not getting in an elevator with more than three other people. 

It was almost as if Yuta read his mind, because he just walked through everyone (and they _ let _him) and the doors opened almost immediately as he stepped up. He was again pulled inside right before the doors closed, only stumbling a bit. 

“We just cut those people,” Sicheng said.

“Yeah well,” He shrugged, seemingly not caring at all. 

Silence wrapped around the two as Sicheng watched Yuta pull out a key card from his wallet and punch it into the slot on the wall. 

“Where are we going?”

“Down.”

When Yuta looked over and saw the deadpan look on Sicheng’s face, he burst into laughter. 

“Oh man! I’m sorry, I just had to do that once!” He wheezed for a couple of seconds more before taking a deep inhale and calming, “no but really we’re going down because it the most private place in the building. Only eight other people, not including me have a card to get down here, so you’re pretty safe!”

As the man finished speaking, the elevator doors opened and all they revealed was a short hallway with a door at the end of it. Yuta walked confidently up to it and scanned his key card, an audible click telling them the door was now unlocked. 

“Uh, hey Yuta?” 

“Hang on, let me just get us to my room first.”

When he said “room” Sicheng just assumed he meant like an office, but when the door opened to a place that looked like a living room, it was obvious he meant “room” as in bedroom. 

He opened his mouth to speak but remembered Yuta telling him to wait, it made him concerned for many reasons. Why couldn’t he speak, who was in the house that he should be afraid of?

Yuta paused to take off his shoes and Sicheng figured he should probably do the same, so he followed suit. They were silent during this process as both of them set their sneakers on the rack by the door. Once again Yuta led the way and a Sicheng simply followed, having a lot of questions on his mind that would probably be blurted out as soon as they got to safety. 

As they traveled down a hallway, there were doors on either side, all of them closed but with hand drawn name tags in different colorful styles. Which was weirdly cute considering the creepy aura he felt from being trapped in a potentially dangerous situation with a stranger. 

Suddenly Yuta curved and stopped in front of a door that said, “Yuta & Taeil <3” in curly lettering. 

“I-is your roommate here?” The Chinese man asked in a whisper, looking slightly concerned.

“Don’t think so, lemme check,” He creaked open the door and poked his head in, luckily there was no one in the room, “Coast is clear. Sorry my side is kinda messy.”

Sicheng didn’t say anything, just entered the room and looked around, checking the place out. Just as Yuta had said, one half of the room was slightly messier than the other. One bed was made and the other just had the sheets and blanket thrown up. There were a few things on the floor but it was still very walkable, though the desk on the messier side had stuff piled on it. It clearly was used more as a storage area than a place to do work that’s for sure. 

He stopped his gaze from wandering anymore and just settled it onto the ground where he frowned to himself, thinking about what was going on. 

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m just confused. Why did you help me out back there and take me here? What’s in it for you?” There had to be a catch, people weren’t nice for no reason. Sure he was the one who jumped on his bike, but the other could’ve easily thrown him off, so it wasn’t like he ** _had _ **to give him a ride. 

“Hmm well, I thought you were cute! And what a better way to bond than to rescue you from being arrested! Speaking of, why were you being chased?”

A flush immediately bloomed on Sicheng’s face and he glanced, not sure how to respond to a comment like that. Though really he should be, people call him cute constantly, he shouldn’t still be affected over it. But still, Yuta pretty much said in order to repay him, he wants to get to know him. Weird. 

“Um thanks?” A nonchalant shrug was given to try and seem less affected even though his ears were bright red, “My friend forced me to come to a protest, but turns out it wasn’t an approved gathering. Then things got out of hand and- ah shit!”

Sicheng stopped mid sentence and started patting his body to locate his phone, which was luckily still in his back pocket. If it has fallen out while he was running, he would’ve possibly just jumped out a window. 

Yuta just watched all of this go down, not bothering to question what his guest was doing. 

When the phone was finally in his hand, he scrolled through his contacts list before pressing down on the screen a little too hard to call Xiaojun. It rang for a few seconds and then a few seconds more, which was very worrying. At least until there was finally an answer. 

_ “Hello? Sicheng?” _Xiaojun called frantically from the other end. 

“Dejun are you and the others okay?” Sicheng shot back, just as worried. 

_ “Yeah we’re fine, we got out of there like right when things got hectic. What about you, we tried to find you and I even went to your apartment and you weren’t there!”_

There was still concern laced into his friend’s tone, and while he felt bad for making them all worry, he was also happy that they cared enough to feel that way. It was kind of fucked up, but he’s pretty sure everyone has thoughts like this sometimes. 

“Oh I’m-” A pause. 

He had no idea where he was, Yuta had instructed him to close his eyes when they started getting close to their destination. Almost as if the location to this place was secret, which didn’t make sense because how the hell could he miss a building as big as this one? Well, there were a lot of tall intimidating buildings in this city but still...he could probably find his way back here if he tried. 

_ “Sicheng?” _ Xiaojun called, trying to get his attention, _ “where are you? Are you sure you’re safe? I can borrow Lucas’ car and come pick you up!” _

“No, I’m…” he looked over at Yuta, who was watching him like a hawk, a serious look on his face. A look that made the Chinese man feel a little bit nervous, “I’m okay really. I panicked back there but I managed to run into an acquaintance and they were nice enough to take me to their place.” 

There was a sound of confusion at the other end, _ “Who?” _

“You don’t know him, I met him at work,” Sicheng lied, this skill just seemingly popping out of nowhere. Because lying to one of your best friends was a great idea when you might be in danger. 

_ “Chengie! Don’t tell me you have a secret boyfriend this whole time and didn’t tell any of us!” _While Sicheng was glad that Xiaojun no longer sounded scared, the slyness in his voice made his eye twitch. 

“No Dejun, I don’t have a secret boyfriend.” 

As he said this, Yuta grinned, sliding over with a playful look on his face. Which was such a contrast to the no nonsense one he had on two seconds ago. Either way, he plucked the phone out of Sicheng’s hands (getting a ‘Hey!’ in response) and held it up to his own ear, “hello! This is definitely not a secret boyfriend, my sweet Chengie is probably going to be spending the night so don’t be worried if he isn’t at home tonight~”

There was a squeal from Xiaojun that could be heard even without having the speaker next to his ear. 

Yuta nodded as Sicheng tried to grab his phone back before Xiaojun spilled too much about his life, “Renjun? Yeah we’ll call him don’t worry.”

This made the phones owner to freeze, he totally forgot that he should call his little brother to let him know where he was. But also he was annoyed that now Yuta knew about one of the most important people in his life. 

“Alright, bye-bye!” And with that, the call was over. 

“Why did you take that from me?” Sicheng said with a frown and a glare. 

“Aw don’t look so mad, you were just taking a long time clearing up something easy.” 

“Okay, but now my friend thinks I have a boyfriend! Also, why can’t I know where this place is located, and-”

“Hey, who’s Renjun?”

This made Sicheng’s mouth snap shut, the other was using that tone again. Where it sounded like some innocent question that he could either answer or not, when in reality it was demand for information. It was both scary and annoying as hell. Though it’s not like he would do anything about it, not yet anyway. 

“He’s my little brother. We live together, I have to call him and tell him I’m okay!” Sicheng finished up, before making an attempt to grab his phone. This time, it was easily taken back, and clearly it was because he was allowed to have it back. Not because he won. 

The two stared at each other, and when Yuta didn’t say anything else, Sicheng turned his attention back to his phone. Holding down on one of the numbers, obviously he had his brother’s number set up for speed dial. It rang for five seconds, before the exasperated voice of his sibling answered. 

“_Ge why are you calling me? I’m hanging with my friends, I had to walk to the bathroom just so they wouldn’t be saying weird things while I was talking with you.” _

For a moment, it was almost like he wasn’t in the oddest situation of his life as he fell easily back into his guardian roll, “Who are you with?”

Renjun let out a sigh, _ “Jeno, Jaemin, Donghyuck, and Mark.” _

“I know Jeno and Jaemin. But do I know Mark and Donghyuck?” Sicheng hummed as he tried to remember the names, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Yuta look surprised before pulling his own phone out and typing away. 

_ “They’re kinda new to the group. Lucas introduced us to Mark and him and Hyuck are attached at the hip so it was packaged deal or something. They’re cool though so I don’t mind, I mean Donghyuck is annoying but it’s fun to fight with him,” _Renjun ranted. 

“Oh okay, I just wanted to let you know I might be late coming home tonight, but there’s food in the fridge. Or you could stay at Jeno or Jaemin’s house?”

_ “Huh? Why aren’t you going to be home?” _Renjun almost sounded annoyed, which was odd seeing as he’s a teenager and you’d think he’d be happy to have an empty apartment. 

“I’m helping my friend go through a breakup so…” More lying, to his brother no less. He just didn’t want him to worry. 

_ “Oh oops, sucks to be them I guess. Alright I gotta go before the others ditch me at the mall.” _

“Love you Junnie, please text me when you get home or if you’re going to spend the night elsewhere,” Sicheng instructed.

Another sigh, though this one sounded more fond than the last one, _ “....Love you too Ge, and I will. Bye.” _

When he got off his call, he noticed Yuta was sitting on his own (presumably) bed, still typing away. 

“Um, Yuta? What are we doing now?” 

His head snapped up at the direct use of his name, and he sprung up, fixing his guest with an easy smile, “Well you need to stay in here while I tell my friends about your existence.”

Sicheng puffs his cheeks out for a moment, arms crossed over his chest, “Stay in here?” 

“Yup! It’s safer in here than it would be if you wandered around the apartment,” Yuta explained, stepping up to Sicheng and gently pushing him to sit down where he had been sitting on the bed, “you can play around on your phone, take a nap, do whatever. Just don’t leave the room and don’t go snooping around. Oh! And if hear someone coming in, you can hide in my closet.” 

None of this sounded nice, he did not want to be trapped in a room for who knows how long. Plus even if he did snoop around, how would Yuta even know, as long as he was careful. 

“But...how will I know when it’s you coming in?” 

Yuta snorted, as if the answer was obvious, “Just hide anyway, and if I knock three times on the closet door then you know it’s me? Sound good?”

No. “I guess so.”

“Alright, I’ll be right back! Don’t miss me too much Chengie!” 

  


It had been a whole ass hour since Yuta has left the room, and he was going to go stir crazy. The only upside was the he found an iPhone charger lying on the floor to charge his phone with, and since it was just out in the open, he can’t get trouble. 

He had spent some time on his phone before locking it and setting it to the side because he didn’t want to waste his data. The rest of the time he spent looking and taking in every single detail of the room, just remembering everything he could see at service level. It’s technically not considered snooping if he’s not touching anything and not even leaving his spot on the edge of the bed. 

Just to waste time he would look at an item that was around and stare at it for a few seconds before closing his eyes and trying to see how much of it he could remember. 

On Yuta’s side he had some band poster up on the wall while whoever Taeil was had what looked to be some art pieces and some pictures of him and some friends. Everything looked completely normal, just two dudes sharing a living space and seemingly respecting the boundaries, at least that’s what it seemed like. 

Suddenly Sicheng could hear muffled voices coming from somewhere in the apartment, seemingly arguing with each other. 

It didn’t take long for the sound of footsteps coming down the hall to spook him out of his false calm and sprint to the closet. As quickly and quietly as possible he slid the door open and shoved himself inside. He closed the door as much as possibly and huddled in the corner, he was essentially sitting on a bunch of clothes and was fully prepared to use them as camouflage if someone opened the door. 

He waited with baited breath as the door was swung open and there were multiple voices all chattering at once. 

“Well where is he? I swear if he’s loose around the house you’re getting-”

“Spanked? Doie, I can’t believe you’d say that right in front of the whole group,” a voice that was clearly Yuta answered back cheekily, “Relax, we had a plan set up.” 

A shuffling noise happened for a few seconds before there were three quick raps on the door, causing Sicheng to inhale a deep breath to calm his nerves before letting it out. He wasn’t looking forward to facing whoever was outside the safety of this closet, but he didn’t have a real choice. An annoying recurring theme. 

So he crawled forward and slowly slid the door back open, only raising his eyes to their knee levels. Including Yuta he counted nine pairs of feet, which was a bit scary, that was a lot of people. 

Yuta held out a hand to help the other up, and it was taken after a moment of hesitation, “Well guys, this is Sicheng.”

The group shared eye contact with each other before a man- no more like a _ teen _decided to take matters into his own hands and make the atmosphere less awkward. 

“Nice to meet you, I guess. I’m Donghyuck, but like, you could call me Haechan if you wanted to. It’s my cooler name,” the kid said, a large grin plastered onto his face. He had light brown hair that was semi curled and rather tanned skin. 

His youthful appearance almost put Sicheng at ease, which was either a good thing or a bad thing. Lull him into a false sense of security type of bad thing. 

“Hmm, that’s weird. My brother just said he was hanging out with a Donghyuck,” Sicheng muttered, and it was meant to be for himself but apparently the teen has super hearing because he called him out on it.

“What’s your bro’s name?”

“Renjun?”

“No way! You’re brother is Renjunnie? What a small world.”

Someone else quickly took reign of the situation before it could go more downhill, he was clearly the tallest and biggest out of the good. 

“Hyuck, can we save this for another time please?” He asked, his tone slightly exasperated. 

“Johnny-hyung is no fun,” Donghyuck sang, but fell back into the crowd nonetheless. 

Was this Johnny guy like...in charge of all of these guys or what. 

Sicheng nibbled on his bottom lip before speaking out, “So like, am I in trouble for being here or something? The way Yuta was making me be quiet and hide it seems like…”

_ You guys are dangerous. _Is what he wanted to say but didn’t. If they were dangerous, he didn’t want to accidentally set them off. 

Yet another male stepped forward, shorter than the last guy and had a much more lithe build as well. But the facial expression he was wearing was serious, brows furrowed and eyes hard, he did not look like someone who would go down easily despite his physique. 

“Yes and no. Normally if it’s agreed upon beforehand to bringing someone here,” he glared at Yuta for only a second, eyes eventually sliding back onto Sicheng, “and if we know that person then it’s fine. The thing is, we don’t know you at all. And we don’t know if you can be trusted. I’m sure you understand.”

Um no he did not understand. What was the big deal about him being in their house, did it just unnerve them to have a stranger in their house? Because then he could fully understand the hostility towards him, but he was still getting weird feelings from this whole situation. 

“So, I’m not sure I really get what’s going on here,” The Chinese man said, fiddling with his fingers, but managing to maintain eye contact. 

“Unless he’s a spy he shouldn’t know anything, I didn’t tell him anything. He just knows that we work in the offices above,” Yuta explained when the presumed actual leader glared at him once again. 

“Good. Well Sicheng, we like to be careful around here, you don’t mind sticking around for a bit longer do you?”

What’s with these damn people and them asking things he clearly isn’t allowed to say no to. 

The urge to let out an annoyed sigh was strong but he held back, these people didn’t seem to be the kind to just let it slide, “No I don’t mind at all.”

A nod, “I’m Taeyong by the way, I appreciate your cooperation. Do you happen to have identification on you?”

“Uh yeah?” He went to reach for his wallet in his back pocket and everyone seemed to tense for a moment. Only relaxing when the actual wallet was out in the open. Thumbing through various things, he pulled out his ID and showed it to Taeyong, who pulled it from his grasp to get a closer look. 

“Dong Sicheng, from China, born 98…” He continued to mutter what he was reading before he apparently had his fill and passed the card back, “Cool. Hyuck why don’t you take our guest to the living room and show him that show you’re always trying to get us to watch.”

Donghyuck looked ecstatic at the opportunity, and immediately latched himself onto Sicheng’s arm (who was doing his best not to squirm away from the touch), “Yes! Come on Hyung, you’re gonna like it I think. Oh, and you can tell me embarrassing stories about Renjun so I can bully him!”

  


On the way to the living room, Sicheng noticed the group splitting up. Taeyong, Johnny, and a few others stayed behind in the room while Yuta, Donghyuck, and two others left the place. 

“Guess I should introduce myself too,” the man that had chosen to come with them said. He was shorter than the rest (seemingly the shortest) but had a good build to him, “I’m Taeil.”

“Yuta’s roommate!” Sicheng said out loud unintentionally. 

“Yeah that’s me.”

“Well it’s nice to meet you, though I wish it was under better circumstances,” The younger man sighed. 

Taeil nodded in agreement and gave Sicheng a sympathetic look, “Me too. But I talked to Taeyong before hand and used my eldest member status to convince him that this isn’t your fault. Which it isn’t, not really. But I’m the type that likes to think that things happen for a reason.”

“Well I hope something good comes out of all this because my day has been garbage, and to top it all off I’m here and I’m in trouble for some reason? I’m seriously confused!” Sicheng really just wanted to throw himself on the couch in the living room they just entered. 

“Don’t sweat the small stuff,” Donghyuck huffed. 

Sicheng stared at the younger for a moment, “Donghyuck, you don’t work in this building do you? You look a bit young.”

Donghyuck plopped down on the couch and looked up, “No I don’t really work here. I just do internship stuff part time, but I do live here. Mark is the same,” he gestured to the other teen who was about to sit next to him, “speaking of, Markus can you grab the remote?”

“Why didn’t you grab it before-”

Taeil blocked off the Sicheng’s sight so he couldn’t see the other two bickering (and Yuta laughing at them) so he would instead focus on his words, “Listen I wish I could explain things to you, but as of right now I can’t. I may be the eldest but I’m not in charge, I do have a big chunk of influence but I’ve already said all that I could to help you. Just know that for now you’re safe, relax for a bit.”

For some reason, Taeil’s words really calmed him down. Sure there were a lot of unknowns and confusions going on right now, but everything was literally out of his hands. And while he hated not being in control, he had no other choice but to let go and just see where life takes him. 

“Plus, if you didn’t want to hang with the kids,” he gestured to where Yuta had Mark in a headlock and was giving him a noogie, while Donghyuck cheered, “You could help me make dinner.”

“Hmm,” he knew a bit about cooking, all of which he learned from Kun, but even then it wasn’t much. Though he still decided to follow Taeil through the dining room and into the kitchen because hanging out with three high-energy people at once was a bit overwhelming.

Taeil made him wash his hands, before quickly giving him some vegetables to chop. He had no idea what they were making, but it was probably easier to just do as he was told (seems like a trend here). 

He was set up with task after task, from putting food into pots to checking if meats were cooked. It was sort of nice to just focus on something productive instead of worrying about what-ifs in his head for who knows how long. 

As they were finishing up, a thought of something from earlier popped into his head, and he turned to question Taeil about it. Who was stirring a pot momentarily before putting a lid on it, apparently they were making some sort of hotpot as the main dish. It already smelled really good. 

“Um hey Taeil-ssi? How old is Yuta by the way? You referred to him as a ‘kid’ so…”

“Hm? Oh, well he’s not that much younger than me so don’t worry. When I called him kid I just mean because he acts like he’s a teen still,” Taeil chuckled for a quick second, “well not all the time obviously, but it’s nice to see that side of him still exists. Especially in this business…” 

The last part was mumbled, like it was an afterthought for him and him only. Though Sicheng caught it and was thoroughly confused about just what it even meant, but he didn’t bother asking because he knew he wouldn’t get a straight answer. 

“Why’d you ask anyway?”

His ears tinged red just a bit, and he gave a slight shrug, “Just curious?”

“About Yuta, are you-”

“What about me?”

The two men who were originally in the kitchen turned to look at Yuta who was standing in the doorway with a grin and his hands on his hips. 

Taeil fixed the Japanese man with a look for interrupting them, “Why are you here? Also did you leave Donghyuck and Mark alone out there, you know that spells out disaster for the rest of us.”

“No, it’s been like over an hour so most of the rest of the guys are out there so it’s _ fine _. Also it smells good as hell in here, I just wanted to maybe do some taste testing for you?” 

Yuta looked towards the food and then towards the eldest member with hopeful eyes. 

“Oh yeah of course,” Taeil nodded and walked over to the counter to grab something. 

Honestly Sicheng was shocked that he agreed that quickly, Taeil seems like the type to be stingy when he’s the one putting the hard work into cooking. Once he got whatever it was off the counter, he whipped around and with deadly accuracy chucked a _ vegetable _right at Yuta’s forehead. 

“Ah!” Yuta yelped and immediately dived behind the wall, just barely missing the headshot, “what the hell was that?!”

“Your taste test apparently,” Sicheng answered. 

Taeil was practically crying with laughter at his own stunt, it took a few seconds to try and compose himself so he could speak. He heaved in a breath and slapped Sicheng on the shoulder, “I’m glad you get me! But as for you!” Clearly he was glaring at the person cowering away from harm, “you should know better than to ask for scraps, are you acting up because we have a guest?”

“Why are you saying it like that? Like I’m a dog?” Yuta pouted. 

He had determined it was safe to come back into the kitchen, but this time he was armed with an offended look. 

“Oh don’t give me that face, you know I’m just teasing,” Taeil said fondly, “now go tell the others dinner will be ready in about 20 minutes, and take Sicheng with you. By the way, thanks for the help Sicheng-ah, usually I’ll have some assistance from the rest but sometimes things come up you know?”

Sicheng nodded, “No I get it. I liked helping, it was a good distraction.” The way Taeil nodded back in an agreeing way made it feel like he knew all too well just was he meant, possibly even more so. Just add it the rest of the confusion pile that’s been created ever since he got to this damn building. In the back of his mind he feels like he should be freaking out at the possibility of not knowing what was going to happen to him, but he just didn’t have enough energy to create that emotion. 

“Come on Chengie! I should probably introduce you to the rest of the crew,” Yuta said, gesturing the other to follow him back into the living room. 

They made their way in but no one really paid them any mind, too busy doing their own things. 

“As you know that’s Mark and Donghyuck,” he gestured to the two teens, who were having a heated discussion about whatever was on the TV. “That’s Jungwoo and Jaehyun, and you know Johnny sorry.”

The Jungwoo guy was excitedly showing the other two a photo on his phone, and judging based on looks alone he figured Jaehyun and Johnny would not care about whatever they were forced to look at. They looked a bit...intimidating to say the least, very much people he wouldn’t want to get into a confrontation with. But in fact, they both looked interested and engaged, and even asking questions about it! Wild. 

“Doyoung isn’t here though, and Taeyong is also missing. Guess they’re doing some techy stuff I dunno, that’s not my area of expertise,” he shrugged, before pulling Sicheng to a free area on the large couch. 

“Weren’t you supposed to tell the others about the food?” Sicheng questioned, a brow raised. 

“Listen they’ll find out when it’s done that it’s done.”

Can’t argue with that logic. 

While waiting for the food to be ready, Sicheng just awkwardly tapped on his legs and watched the cartoon on the TV. It’s only when he made the movement to grab his phone so he could go on it that he realized he definitely left it on Yuta’s bed. 

“Ah...Yuta?” The Japanese man lazily looked over at him, signaling him to continue, “I left my phone in your room, is it okay if I go and grab it?”

“Go for it, just again, don’t go snooping please?” 

“I won’t, I can tell nothing good would come of it,” he chuckled dryly, before slowly rising but quickly leaving the area. Following the hallway, he easily got back to Yuta’s room. The door tags might’ve been silly but they were very helpful, especially when all the doors look the same otherwise. 

Upon entering the room, he noticed a figure standing by one of the beds, scrolling on a phone — specifically _ his _phone — and scribbling some words onto a nearby notepad. It wasn’t anyone he knew by name and the only person he hadn’t met was ‘Doyoung’ so he’s assuming this is him. 

“Um excuse me! That’s kind of my phone you’re looking through.”

The man looked up and fixed him with a blank look, “Oh really? I hadn’t noticed, oh by the way Sicheng your password was really easy to guess. Your little brother’s birthday? A bit cliche if you ask me.” As he said that, he swiped through a few more things before tossing the device back onto the bed. 

A flare of annoyance bloomed in his chest and he took a few steps towards the other. He wasn’t sure if he was supposed to be afraid of this guy, but he was irritated and they were the same height so it’d probably be fine. 

“Wha- how’d you even guess that!? And what the hell were you doing going through my stuff, ever heard of privacy?” Sicheng hissed. Usually he didn’t like to yell, but he could feel himself edging towards that route. 

“Oh relax tiger, it’s not like I found anything anyway. You’re a very boring person, moved from China when you were 12 and lived with your parents till you were 20. Then you had some roommates before getting an apartment with your brother this year. All not interesting and not threatening,” Doyoung explained, though his voice was monotone, indicated his apparent boredom, “Unless you want to prove me wrong? Are you hiding something?” 

Sicheng’s eye definitely twitched, and he had to stop himself from taking physical action, “Nope, I had a normal life. What about you? I’m gonna take a guess and say no. Probably had some parent issues or something. Also you never answered my question on how you managed to guess my password.”

With a hard roll of the eyes Doyoung let out a tsk, “Please stop trying to act like you know how to profile someone. And for the record, I’m good with tech related stuff but anyone with a brain could’ve guessed that. Once they noticed how close you and Renjun are, it would only make sense that something related to him would be your password.”

Maybe security needed to be heightened, something to do later. 

“Okay but why were you being nosy?”

“I had a task given to me and I planned on completing it.”

The two stared at each other, neither seemingly wanting to back down. Sicheng twirled around Doyoung (thank god for dance classes as a kid) so he could snatch his phone up and also feel the satisfaction of seeing the other being forced to back up so they weren’t too close to each other. 

“Well I’ve gotten all I needed anyway,” Doyoung huffed, glaring at the newcomer for just a moment longer before storming out. 

What an annoying ass guy, he’s the one snooping and yet he’s acting like Sicheng’s in the wrong! He really should ask Yuta what this guys deal is, speaking of Yuta, he’s probably wondering what’s taking so long. 

When he arrived back in the living room, phone in hand, he noticed that it was still the same people in here as it was when he left. So he took his same spot on the couch seeing as it was still open. 

“Hey Yuta?”

“Oh hey Chengie, you took awhile. Everything okay?”

“Everything is fine! I just ran into Doyoung, why does he act like…” How does he say he acts like a bitch but in a more polite way that won’t get him in trouble? “He’s kinda of rude, I caught him looking through my phone.”

Yuta’s smile melted off his face and he looked to the side, before focusing back on Sicheng, “What did he say?”

The change in emotion was very unsettling, but he answered anyway, “...He said I was very boring and normal essentially. And that my password is too easy. Why?”

This answer was seemingly a good one because Yuta’s smile came back almost as quickly as it left, “Gotcha, yeah sorry about that. But I wouldn’t worry about him too much! Also he’s just naturally crabby, no matter what.” 

Well that only answered part of his question. It was really damn annoying how he never received straight answers when that was all that was expected from him. The sooner he’s out of this weird ass place, the better. All he wants is to be back at home with Renjun and watching bad reality TV so they could both make fun of it. He even wants to seen his annoying friends again. Ten with his fashion advice, Kun with his good cooking, and he really wants to know how Xiaojun did with his crushes. 

The rest of the waiting time was spent just thinking, and even though he grabbed his phone, he didn’t really pull it out to use it. Yuta tried to get him to talk every few minutes but Sicheng honestly wasn’t feeling up to it, it was like all his energy was drained from him. All he wanted was to not be here, hopefully everything would just be fine after dinner. 

“Guys dinner is ready, come sit!” Taeil’s voice boomed from the kitchen. 

And in an instant, everyone was up and racing to the table, meanwhile Sicheng paused on the couch and glanced towards the exit. He could see it from here, he could leave right now if he was fast enough. His shoes were right by the door and he had his phone in his pocket, he could easily call an Uber or something. Would he be able to use the elevator though? The keycard was needed to go down so it would probably not be needed to go up and access the public lobby. 

Just as he was really thinking about just walking out the door (because it wasn’t like he was being held hostage), a hand gently landed on his shoulder, causing him to tense up. Slowly he turned his head to see who was touching him, and was greatly surprised to see that it was Taeyong. 

“I hope you aren’t thinking of leaving, we still haven’t eaten,” he said, an odd smile on his face. 

Sicheng shook his head and slid off the couch so that the strangers hand wouldn’t be on him, “No...of course not. Sorry I just got caught up staring into space, y’know?”

“I get it, go on in then. I’ll be there in a moment.”

Weird man, weird ass man. Sicheng wanted to whine, but he just did as he was told and headed for the other room. 

There were three empty seats at the long table in the dining room, one at the head of the table, one next to Donghyuck, and one next to Yuta. And as soon as he entered the room, the older man was patting the seat next to him, indicating he wanted him to sit there. Which of course he shuffled over and did just that, because it would be silly to annoy him over something so trivial. 

“Just a warning, it’s going to be a bloodbath trying to get food. But I asked the others to let you get some first because you’re new,” Yuta explained. 

“I only want a little, I’m not that hungry,” Sicheng shrugged, though it wasn’t at all true, he was starving. 

“You know, you kinda suck at lying. Whenever you’re lying you play with your hands, and when you’re thinking about it you get real silent.”

Sicheng glanced down surprised, his hands were very much fiddling with each other. 

“How did...you notice something like that?” He asked, finally looking back up. 

Pointing to his eye, Yuta smirked for a second before answering, “I’ve just got a good eye.”

Eventually he fell silent and just listened to the chattering around him until the last two people finally showed up. It couldn’t have taken more than five minutes for them both to show up but it still felt like it took forever and a day. 

But the fact that both Taeyong and Doyoung were here made the others straighten up in their seats, clearly eager to eat. 

“Hold on now, we all decided to let Sicheng get some first before the battle,” Taeil scolded. 

Food was quickly passed to him, and as soon as it was in front of him, the others went and started clashing chopsticks to get at the food. Hands slapping at each other to get first dibs on the ladle. It was weird because as soon as it had started, it was over and the men were all digging in. The silence was also a new concept because in the entire time he was with the group, someone was always chatting with someone. But now there was only the noise of chewing and slurping which was slightly nasty but it couldn’t be helped. 

Sicheng glanced around once more at the others before starting to pick at his own plate. Originally when he first sat down, he didn’t want to eat but as soon as he placed a piece of meat into his mouth he needed more. He knew he wasn’t a bad cook, but he wasn’t a good one either, so this flavor must’ve surely been all Taeil’s doing. And bless him for the tastiness, this day has been so damn long, he needed some sort of sustenance. 

Which is why it didn’t take long for him to finish all the food that was served to him, but luckily he wasn’t the only one. Most of the group had finished already, and he could see Donghyuck peeking to see if there was any extra. There wasn’t. 

Now that mouths weren’t being stuffed with food, the chattering started back up, though it was seemingly too quiet for him to really hear what was being said. He just knew that they were talking. Though it helped him zone out, just staring blanking at the empty bowl in front of him. For some reason he just sat there waiting, like he was _ waiting _ for someone to tell him what to do. It didn’t feel right to just get up seeing as everyone else was still seated. 

“Sicheng,” Yuta called in a low voice. 

He turned slowly, “Hmm?”

“Are you done? I’m going to take you home now.”

A look of surprise flashed over Sicheng’s face, and his eyes flickered over to Taeyong. Who was already looking at him, like he was expecting it. The man gave him a nod, clearly giving him permission to what? Leave?

“Yeah I’m ready,” He almost wanted to ask Yuta if after all of this he could really leave. Part of him didn’t want to go yet because he wanted to ask so many things. But another part of him was scared that if he didn’t take the opportunity presented to him now, another one wouldn’t arise. 

“Alright,” The older man scooted back in his chair, and Sicheng followed suit, “Everyone say goodbye to Chengie, he’s going home!”

He winced, he was hoping to just leave unnoticed but of course Yuta is the extra type and can’t do anything quietly. Luckily though, no one was silent and people actually did say bye and waved to them as they walked away. 

“Come back soon Sicheng-Hyung so we can actually hangout!” Donghyuck called. 

Sicheng smiled awkwardly back at him, “Yeah I’d love to”

Yeah right, he was never coming back here again. He was never dealing with these people again, he was definitely going to ban Renjun from hanging out with Mark and Donghyuck. They might be fine themselves but they live with weird, scary, and annoying (just Doyoung) people. 

Seeing as they had come from the front door when they came in, he just assumed that they would leave that way as well. So he walked in that direction to grab his shoes and put them on. But when he went to open the door, he was pulled away by a hand on his upper arm. 

“Sorry, I should’ve mentioned that after the offices upstairs close we have to take the back elevator. We can’t just stroll through the front because the security alarms are already set up,” Yuta explained. 

Sicheng nodded, that explanation actually made sense, “Wait you guys have a second elevator down here?”

“Yeah? If there was only one exit, that would be a fire hazard.” Another reasonable excuse, but they should probably have stairs as the second exit but whatever. 

“I guess…” He said lowly, waiting for Yuta to take his hand off of him before he finally followed along. 

They went down the hallway with the bedrooms, and Sicheng noticed that there were a few rooms with no door tags on them. He wanted to open them and see what was inside, but he stayed put, going only where he was supposed to. The older man went to the door near the end of the hall and pushed it open. 

Inside was a neat room with a large whiteboard and an oval table, and looked very much like a meeting room. Which would make some sense, these guys were probably the heads of some business and therefore would need a private meeting place? At least that’s how he justified it, serious business man or otherwise who wants a room like this in their house. Who wants to live under their place of work? Maybe it was easier than paying to live in a bunch of separate places?

Either way, at the back of the room was an elevator, and both of them swiftly went inside. The buttons were much the same as on the original one, keycard slot and everything. He watched Yuta poke the one that said “BD” before he leaned against the wall and waited. 

“So, Sicheng. What do you do for a living?” Yuta asked. Though if it was out of pure curiosity or need to fill the silence, was unclear. 

“I work two jobs, today was my day off,” Honestly he didn’t want to reveal anything about his life when Yuta has barely told him anything. But he was given an expectant look, so it seemed like he had to continue, “I work at a supermarket some days and a convenience store on other days. It’s the best a high school diploma could get me.” 

“You aren’t in college?” Yuta looked a bit surprised at that. 

Sicheng waited until they stepped off the elevator to speak, just wanting a brief distraction from the conversation. It wasn’t really a topic he liked to talk about, the fact that all he’s ever done in life is work two minimum wage jobs and graduate high school. But then again at least he did graduate high school, not everyone can say that. 

“No, my family is kind of broke. Even scholarships didn’t cover enough, now I’m just saving up so Renjun can go to that art school he’s been dreaming of,” Sicheng explained, “He deserves it more than I do anyway.”

Yuta frowned and shook his head as he walked beside the other, “That’s not true, I’m sure you both deserve it! What would you have majored in if you could’ve gone?” 

“I really like dancing so probably would’ve majored in dance, but it’s too late to do anything about it now.”

“It’s never too late, especially with someone like you. You’re smart and…” He paused, as if he were trying to find the right word, “have a good history.”

Sicheng gave him a strange look, “Well yeah I guess? But I still wouldn’t have enough to put both Jun and I into university.”

Their talk slowed to a stop after that, and their walk around the back of the building brought them to the front. Yuta’s motorcycle still sat there, though he felt that he should’ve gotten a ticket or something for being there all day. 

“Hmm, I should’ve gotten the helmet from my room for you. Good thing I’m a safe driver!” Yuta grinned and jogged over to the bike, “This time I get to properly invite you to hop on so… hop on?”

“Well obviously I’m going to, how else am I going to get home?” Sicheng joked, taking long strides over to him. 

This time around he was much more aware of how it felt to be pressed against Yuta on the back of this motorcycle. Much more so than when he had calmed down after the initial getaway. 

“First of all, where do you live? Second of all, you’re gonna have to close your eyes until I tell you to open them.”

Sicheng sighed and shut his eyes tightly as he rattled off his address, and soon enough they were off. 

//

Realistically getting home didn’t take that long, but it felt like ages to Sicheng, especially since his eyes were closed for half of the ride. Once he saw the familiar building, he felt a spark of relief hit him. The bike was barely able to slow to a stop and pull up to the curb before Sicheng was struggling to hop off. 

His feet hit the pavement and he momentarily twirled around to face Yuta, “Um, thanks for the ride and saving me earlier. So uh, see you around I guess?” 

Quickly he raced inside of his apartment building, not waiting to see if Yuta was going to respond to him. 

For the first time he skipped the elevator (he’s been in two too many today) and took the stairs. Glad that he was only on the third floor anyway, so he won’t be too sweaty or out of breath. 

Once he arrived at his door, he fished his keys out of his pocket, very glad that they survived the day. He unlocked the door and slowly pushed it open, not wanting to be too loud just in case Renjun was asleep. 

Just then it hit him, what time was it? He’s had his phone on him a majority of the time he was there, but he never really glanced at the time. It was like the universe wanted him to feel like he was trapped in some sort of time warp. 

Though when he crept inside, he saw his little brother lying on the couch playing on his phone but with the TV on playing a commercial. 

“Junnie? Why are you awake?” Sicheng questioned, shutting the door and coming over to lean over the back of the couch.

“It’s nine-thirty, why would I be asleep?” Renjun rested his phone on his chest and looked up at the elder, “I’m surprised you’re home so early.”

Only 9:30 PM? That was still pretty early,“Oh… but yeah me too, I’m just glad to be home.” 

“Do you want to talk about it?” 

“Not right now, why are you home alone?” 

“Don’t wanna talk about,” Renjun sighed.

Sicheng stifled a chuckle, “Okay, do you want to watch a movie?”

“Only if I can pick.”

“Deal.”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

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> 
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